By Mohammed Ali

The 25-year-old moved to the Geoffrey Guichard earlier this week, and spent no time in praising his new club after joining on a four-year-deal

New Saint-Etienne signing Romain Hamouma has expressed his delight at joining Les Verts from Caen this week in a €4 million transfer.

The midfielder exited Stade Michel d'Ornano after Les Malherbes suffered relegation last season, bringing an end to the two-year stay in Normandy.

Saint-Etienne fended off competition from Ligue 1 giants Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille for the 25-year-old's signature, and Hamoumarevealed that his new club was always his preferred destination.

"I absolutely wanted to come to Saint-Etienne. This club was my first choice." Hamouma was quoted as saying by Ligue1.com.

"My meetings with the president [Roland Romeyer] and [coach] Christophe Galtier convinced me. We have a great team here and we have what it takes to fight at the top of the table.

"I feel really good here. The history of the club is very important and Saint-Etienne live and breathe football. The fans are awesome. It was an easy decision."

Saint-Etienne open their Ligue 1 campaign at home against Lille on August 11.